Should you quit your current job to spend full time looking for another job?
Of course, the first thing to consider before answering that question is whether or not you have sufficient personal funds to endure a period of unemployment. And, if so, how long can you go before you would have to “just take anything” rather than remain unemployed?
If your financial situation allows, then leaving your job to search full time for a new job has one major plus. It would mean that you can devote all or most of your time to your search without the pressures and distractions of your full time job.
On the other hand, there are several possible minuses to consider as well:
- To be effective in a job search while unemployed, you must have strong personal discipline – even more so than if you’re employed while looking. That’s because when you unplug from the structure of a company’s plans, goals, schedules, etc. and find yourself completely on your own, it’s entirely up to you to establish an effective daily rhythm. You have to make your own plan and find the discipline to work your plan alone every day.
- Which brings me to the next point. Some of my unemployed clients find it especially challenging to spend day after day without a team of colleagues. Most people tend to rely on their work teams to fill a social need that we, as humans, all share.
- After a while, some unemployed clients share with me how frustrating it is to not be productive and contributing at the level they were used to when they were working. For some this even affects them psychologically because it can tend to erode their confidence levels. This is a very valid issue since the work it takes to do a job search is not the same kind of work they would be performing if they were already employed in their professions.
- Perception by future employers is another consideration. Recruiters and hiring managers want to hear your exit story, and how you handle that question is of paramount importance. Most people believe that the “correct” way to exit a company is to line up a new job and then give your two weeks’ notice (although they will easily accept “I left to go back to school full time” as well). This is one area in which I do a lot of coaching with clients – how to tell the transition story positively and in such a way that it doesn’t raise red flags. Because I do this so much, I consider this to be the easiest of the minuses to overcome.
In case you haven’t already guessed, I tend to lean toward staying employed if possible while you’re looking for the reasons above, but also because I know that some recruiters perceive candidates as more desirable when they’re employed. The assumption is that if a candidate is working, that candidate is more likely to be employable. I’m not saying that this is a fair assumption – I’m just saying that it exists.
However, I do firmly believe in leaving a job without another lined up when it’s a high-stress situation that is affecting your mental and/or physical health or when it’s an abusive situation. In those cases, if you can afford to leave, it doesn’t matter what the minuses are. Your mental and physical well being is far more important.